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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Follow up to Pig/Lipstick post

Recently I posted my take on an overly optimistic read on the economy and real estate market from the area's "luxury leader".

The Florida Association of Realtors posted an AP story about the latest market figures. You can read it here: http://bit.ly/fdk8Lv

The AP story confirms my sense of where we are in the market cycle: hovering near bottom and struggling to climb out.

As I blogged earlier, putting an overly optimistic spin on apparent "seasonal visitors" out and about in our area is a less than scientific measure of future prices or activity. This type of advice results in overpriced listings, which result in drastic price reductions in our MLS and increased time on the market.

The buyer mentality is still "I want to buy, but only if I feel I'm getting the best deal". When working with buyers, I show them the price history of properties. In their current mind set, continual price reductions means the seller is getting desperate to sell. This results in a vicious cycle of lowball offers and no sale.

Homeowners, if you want a realistic approach to pricing and marketing your home, please contact me.